Slipping Mask
by Hime Juusan
Summary: Because they didn't need words to understand each other, he felt his mask slip. But he still wouldn't give in. /Gerome x Lucina


Gerome was not the most sociable person in the world and rightfully so.

He hadn't had many memories of his parents and they were blurred by time. That was because he hardly got to see his parents when his world was bombarded with countless Risen. He was too angry at them at the time to understand the entire situation. By the time he understood why his parents left him alone to fight for their country, they were already dead. His last words to them were not kind and that won't ever change because they no longer had the ability to hear him.

After recovering from his emotional distraught from the news, he decided to hide his face behind a mask. Although very simple, the mask was a very useful and effective way of keeping his emotions hidden from the prying eyes of others. The intense emotional pain he felt from his mother and father's deaths was not forgotten. He doubts that he'll ever forget it.

So why would he try to make new memories with these people that were going to die in the battlefield anyway?

He will help them on the battlefield, but he will not be kind to them. He did not need new attachments. He had already suffered enough from his parents' deaths and did not want to go through that torture again. In an effort to distance himself from the army, he would tell them in the most polite, yet threatening way for them to leave him alone if anybody approaches him. And so, he has developed a bit of a 'lone wolf' reputation.

This method, however, was useless against the other future children. Despite his continuous struggle to not interact with them, they seemed to be immune to the 'lone wolf' barrier he put around himself. This can be seen in the current conversation he was having with the Ylissean princess, who was not giving up on her persistence to break that barrier.

"Don't act so familiar with me." He wasn't looking at her.

Lucina stared at him sadly. "Gerome…"

"Don't look at me like that."

"I will continue to until you stop this charade of yours."

He bristled at that. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do."

"I've been like this for years. You cannot expect me to change so suddenly."

Lucina frowned at his answer. "That's not true and you know it. Ever since I met you in this time period, you've been acting rather rude and uncaring. The people of this army have been trying to get to know you and you brushed them off like they didn't matter at all."

He finally turned his head to glare at her, though Lucina couldn't see it since he had his mask on. "It _has_ been years, Lucina. We haven't seen each other in a little over two years. Surely you would expect some changes in the people you have known before."

"Can you at least tell me _why_ you are acting like this?"

Maybe he could be a little more honest. This was Lucina he was talking to and he has known her for years. He turned his face away again. "These people here are strangers to me. I don't know them and they don't know me. I see no merit in getting familiar with them when they were going to die no matter what."

Lucina seemed surprised that he decided to tell her the truth. Not missing this opportunity, she spoke determinedly, "The future can be changed."

"Yes, but it's not guaranteed it will."

"Even so, I want to believe it will. I refuse to believe otherwise."

Great, a bit of her father's personality has rubbed off on her. It's probably because she was able to spend more time with him now that he was alive. Too bad her father was going to die sooner or later.

"Either way, we are not supposed to exist here, or have you forgotten that? We can't complicate things here by forming bonds with these people."

But even without her father, she was still determined to cling to that last shred of hope that everything was going to be alright in the end. When their world became the hell on earth that Lucina described it as, she had to guide her tattered country, or what was left of it, in order for them to survive the horrors that seem to haunt at every corner of the world. Even though she was just a young girl at the time, she didn't give up. She was the bravest and strongest woman he has ever met. He admired that trait about Lucina, but he also hated it at the same time. Why cling to something as useless and uncertain as hope?

But Gerome still admired her and has been for a very, very long time. Somewhere along the years, that admiration has turned into something akin to attraction. And then soon, that attraction turned into that deep affection also known as _love_.

When he realized that he loved her, it was like a knife was stabbed into his heart. He loved his parents, but they were dead now. What if he lost her, too? What if she died and once again he would go through that terrible, mind-numbing pain? What would become of him then?

It was alright if his affections were not returned, then he would be able to forget about them and move on. But he was not blind. He saw that Lucina felt the same way about him. Neither has confessed their feelings in words, but they didn't need words to understand each other.

That's why, from then on, he tried to put more distance between him and Lucina, even though he knew it hurt her for him to do so. But then she proposed to Naga the idea that they go back in time, to the past, and change things in order to change the future. She looked so desperate at the time. The unbreakable façade she kept on for everyone's sake, that everything was going to be alright, was instantly shattered into pieces. Gerome strongly opposed the idea, but once he saw how broken Lucina looked, he eventually agreed. Then he suggested that she hid her face so that those of the past won't recognize who she is when they saw the mark of Naga on her left eye. She was so happy when he gave her a mask to wear, probably because it was a symbol of him finally ending the distance between them.

But the moment didn't last for long. She went back to the past shortly after. And that was that. He wouldn't see her for a long time. In the worst case scenario, he would never see her again. But at least, he had time to forget those wretched feelings he had for her. And maybe, she would forget her feelings for him as well.

Snapping out of his thoughts about their past, he noticed the heavy silence. Something was wrong. Lucina wasn't speaking at all for awhile now. He slowly moved his head to look at her again.

He wished he didn't.

Lucina was crying. She wasn't sobbing, but tears trailed freely down her cheeks. He saw a whirlpool of emotion in her eyes and it dawned on him. They can understand each other without words after all.

She still loved him, even though they were separated these last two years.

Old, unwanted feelings resurfaced and he wanted so badly to give into the concept called love. Their feelings were still mutual. Any normal person would feel absolute joy to know that, but he felt no such thing.

Lucina seemed to have seen the conflicting emotions in his eyes, too, because she started to speak, "Gerome, I still—"

Figuratively, he finally felt his mask slip. He couldn't help the overbearing desperation he put into his next words. "D-don't!" If he heard her say that she loved him in words, he knew he would give in. "Don't say it outloud…" And in a even more pitiful tone, he added, "..._please don't_…"

She hesitated. "But…" She looked even sadder than the day she went back to the past.

No, this can't be happening. He steeled himself. He had to remain calm.

He also couldn't help the cold, icy words he said next. "I thought I made it perfectly clear back then that I didn't have any interest in a romantic relationship with you."

That shut her up.

He saw the transformation take place on her face. She looked like she was in the worst pain possible. And it was not because of Risen, Grima, or even death. It was because of _him_. And that made him feel like the worst person in the world. He couldn't look at her anymore. He started to walk off in quick, light steps away from her.

_Anywhere_ would be fine, anywhere besides _near her_.

He ignored the sobs he heard and the cries for him to stop. He won't give up. He won't lose to love. He _will _forget, no matter how long it took. There were a lot of people in this world, this army, so there was no doubt that Lucina will be able to move on. She will forget, too, and find another to love.

After all, it was better to see her happily marry someone else than seeing her die.

.

.

.

* * *

Ugh, sorry if they were out of character or if it's confusing. I tried my best. I noticed that there was a severe lack of stories, if any at all, about this couple so I wrote this. There might be grammar/spelling mistakes, too.


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